


Threaded Feet

by WhisperGypsy



Category: None - Fandom, Other - Fandom, Short Story - Fandom
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Interspecies Friendship, Mermaids, Oringinal story, Socks, and I finally had an excuse to write it, human life introduction, idk this is super cute to me, inspired by tumblr post, it was for an English assignment, soooo, thought I'd post
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 08:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10331048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperGypsy/pseuds/WhisperGypsy
Summary: Sooo... this was for an English assignment. I saw this idea while searching for a prompt, I thought it was super cute, so, you know, this happened. Anyway, a mermaid, Hinami, wants to go to the surface and when she's gets there she sees this sock/shoe store and gets really excited. That's the short version. Please leave feedback. Thanks! Enjoy!





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wish I could give credit to whoever came up with this idea but I don't know their URL. :(

Hinami swam up closer to where her mother was sitting, her tangerine colored tail pushing her through the water as her curly hair followed. She came up beside her mother, her beautiful and slim figure sitting atop a pearl throne, her long, tightly braided, white hair resting over her shoulders and over the edges of the throne. Her tail, an almost pale blue, moved lazily in front of the throne while she was looking over some documents. Her silver eyes looked up and followed Hinami, she smiled as Hinami rested her elbows on the arm of the large chair.

“Mother?” Hinami drawled out, “Please explain why I cannot go to the surface? The twins have and they're not even fifteen yet. I’m seventeen.”

Hinami had been asking to go to the surface for well over two months now. Her mother, Queen Mirael of the the Southeast Coast, wished this was just a phase with her daughter. However, Hinami was becoming increasingly more persistent about the topic of going to the surface.

“That was because they snuck out. They were bubbled for a month because of it.” The queen looked at her daughter with stern compassion in her eyes, “You know it's dangerous up there for us, Hinami. You remember what happened to Finid.”

“Of course I know that it’s dangerous, but Finid was younger and careless. I just want to walk around up there for… a day, meet a friendly person, eat something other than seafood. I'm just a little curious about their life.”

Hinami and her mother stared at each other into silence. Hinami, doing her best dogfish pout, and the queen, with a blank face and an almost unnoticeable little frown.

“Being bubbled for a month to go the surface is a risk I’ll take. You know that right?”

“That's not the risk I'm worried about.” Hinami frowned, then thought, “what... if… a guard came with me then?” she offered. Her mother raised a skeptical eyebrow and thought about it. It would be the most safe option compared to letting her go alone. Mirael then said, “I choose the guard, and you only stay out for a day. Twelve hours.” Hinami broke into a grin and sped to reach up and hug her mother, “Thank you thank you thank you!” the queen hugged her daughter back with a soft smile. “I mean it though, twelve hours. No more.”

“I promise.”

 

Hinami was excited. No, ecstatic! After her mother had granted her permission to go to the surface she began getting herself ready, making herself look presentable and such. She spent the rest of the day imagining what the humans would be like. Did they have different customs? How different were they? Did they have pointed teeth and ears? What do they do for fun? The guard and Hinami left around midnight. Hinami swam closer to the surface, passing the coral reef and colorful bouts of fish. Since it was night the moonlight was shining in the water. She’s never done this before, or been this close to the surface of the water. This will be a good experience, she’s determined to make it so. What could go wrong? Her mother approved of the idea. The guard, Varoj, a long time family friend, followed after Hinami. He had short sand blonde hair, which stood out from his dark skin, and a scar on his left cheek which drew more attention to him. Varoj had been to the surface before, so he knew some of the do’s and don’t’s of the human culture. Hinami’s mother had told him to let Hinami figure things out, but to keep her safe. She had also given them clothes suited to the fashion of the mainlanders. Apparently they had sunk with a ship not too long ago. She swam closer to the surface, the material of a yellow floral dress rubbed against her scales with every movement of her tail. She hoped it would not be so irritating on the while roaming the mainland, her mother said a dress would be easier than pants because she has not had a chance to get used to human legs before. The Varoj was given a plain, light blue shirt and some shorts. The mainlanders came up with such funny names for articles of clothing. The shirt was similar to the design of armor but made of much thinner, soft material, and the shorts had a waist hole and two …leg… holes, Hinami assumed anyway. Varoj looked strange in the mainlanders clothes, compared to the coral armour usually worn. Since he was familiar with them he knew how to wear the clothes. Hinami and Varoj broke the surface of the water. Hinami peaked at her surroundings and was awed by the sight on the mainland, everything was bright and beautiful. Hinami’s dark hair amassed behind her as she looked on, wonderstruck. Varoj tapped her shoulder to get her attention, “Princess, we should find a more covered area to dry off, as the queen said.”

“Alright, alright.”

She looked around, the long beach was still a ways away, where they were now was the place where their tails just brushed the sand. They swam closer to shore, near a bunch of trees close to the water's edge with vines hanging down. As Hinami and Varoj swam closer, Hinami noticed a few people -humans- walking up and down the shore. She tore herself away from the sight in favor of launching herself onto the dry sandy area under the trees, not made any easier with the dress she was wearing. Her mother had said it would be better to already be wearing the clothes as she dried off, meaning no hassle to come with dealing with legs for the first time. It was shady and there were bushes around the trees that made further cover. Varoj had launched himself onto the sand as well, albeit less graceful, and seated himself a respectful distance away from Hinami, posture upright and tense.

“Why are you tense, I mean I’m a little nervous too but…”

“I just do not want any mainlanders coming over this way to find two merpeople and make a spectacle out of us” She had not thought of that. Hinami decided to think optimistically. “We’ll be quiet, and are hopefully dry before then”

After a couple of minutes sitting and doing nothing Hinami looked at Varoj, “What are the humans like? Their customs?” she asked, curious. As much as she wanted to run to the boardwalk and meet everyone she possibly could, she was stuck drying her tail. She might as well learn a bit about the human’s culture. Varoj continued looking out at the sea while speaking.

“They are not all that much different from us, really. They cook almost everything they eat though, nothing raw unless it’s prepared a certain way. It’s not very popular for males to wear dresses, or for females to be fully nude. Exercises they do to stay fit have lots of different leg positions, there’s lots of sports that involve leg movement as well. There’s one in particular that can be played on a beach with net called volleyball, I think. The humans do lots of jumping and running in that sport.” Hinami tilted her head, “What’s jah-mping?” Varoj explained it was similar to launching ourselves out of the water, but on land, and with feet. Hinami was getting more excited about human activities the more Varoj talked about them. Skipping. Jumping. Overalls. Pets with fur and feathers. Strawberries. Donuts. And a super weird concept called gravity.

By the time their tails were dry the sun was rising and Hinami knew a great deal more about humans and the activities they do for fun. Her dress was still a bit damp but Varoj assured her it would dry out in the sun, which reminded Hinami that she needed to stay out of the water while on land or else she would turn into a mermaid again. She definitely did not want to be flopping around on display for the humans ‘like a sideshow attraction’ Varoj had said. He walked with her to the boardwalk where more and more people started milling around. Her nerves began to act up, whether in the prospect of adventure or nervousness, she could not tell.

Hinami and Varoj walked along the boardwalk of a city of a place called Florida. She was still getting used to walking and in her intrigue, tried to skip, that did not work out well. She was exploring the feeling of sand on feet. Wood on feet, bark on feet, her legs on feet. All of it was new and exciting. As she was walking she was looking at her feet and the way they moved, in her obliviousness she stumbled over a loose board and tripped. She did not land face first on the ground though, she landed face first on a stomach. Surprised by this she looked up, and there was a face. A human. Hinami squeaked. This was the first human she met. Said human, a girl, stuttered as her cheeks were getting rosy. Her hair was a copper reddish-brown and straight, ending just past her shoulders. Her eyes were dark blue, and staring into Hinami’s own deep brown. She was wearing a light pink ...shirt, Hinami recalled, pleated, navy blue shorts, braided sandals, and she was carrying a small bag over her shoulder. Hinami’s eyes widened, on the girl’s toes were colors.

“Um, hi?” the girl was standing now and offered a hand to Hinami because she was still sitting in awe by the girl with colored toes. “Need help?” Hinami took her hand, and stood up. The girl smiled and continued the way she was going once she made sure Hinami was okay and had not been hurt. Varoj’s voice came up behind Hinami, “Are you okay, Princess?”

Hinami snapped out of her daze, “Yes, it's fine. I’m okay.” Hinami looked towards the row of stores to her right for a distraction. She gasped. “No. Way.” she squealed and pointed at a specific store five storefronts down. “They have a store just for foots accessories?!” Hinami almost fell again trying to run to the storefront window and peered in with amazement. Once Varoj caught up with a huff he said, “Those are called socks and shoes, Princess.” Hinami grinned from ear to ear, forgetting about the girl with colored toes for the moment.

“There’s so many to choose from!”

Hinami was darting from shelf to shelf and rack to rack, looking at all the many different patterned socks and different styles of shoes. She held up a pair of knee-high socks to show Varoj, who gave a thumbs up and wandered over to a sunglasses rack while keeping an eye on Hinami. Hinami was browsing the socks with childlike wonder Varoj had not seen since she was little and studying anemones and sea horses. Hinami was starting to lay different socks across her arm, once in awhile comparing two but in the end throwing them both on her arm. Varoj had looked away for a few minutes, to try on some sunglasses and look around, but was called by Hinami with a huge armful of socks ranging from no-show to thigh-high. Hinami handed off the pile to Varoj with a muffled “Can you hold these for a sec’.” Not so much a question as a polite request. Hinami went on to look at sandals and flip-flops, leaving Varoj stand awkwardly in the middle of the store. Hinami soon brought back a pair of white braided sandals with leather bottoms and showed them to Varoj. She went back to wander the rows of socks after taking a few hours to try on fifteen pairs of running shoes and sandals alike.

“Uh… miss…”

Hinami was putting another pair of uniquely patterned socks atop the ever growing pile when a voice called her attention. “...Do you have enough money to pay for all those?” Hinami tilted her head in a bit of confusion.

“I have sand dollars.” the store clerk, a teenager with a spike of unnaturally red hair, a dark green t-shirt and a nametag which read, ‘Jackson’, gave a small huff of laughter before saying, “Sorry, paper dollars or credit only.”

“So I cannot get these?” Hinami asked with a slight pout. He shrugged a ‘sorry’ and went to help another customer with some shoes. Varoj looked at Hinami’s frowning face and apologized.

“I’m sorry, Princess, I should have explained their currency as well. I did not think it would be an issue.” Hinami’s face turned stern.

“No. You did a great job teaching me as much about human culture as you did in the short time we’ve been here. I realize I never thanked you for coming with me to the mainland. Thank you.” Hinami smiled at Varoj, who was roughly a foot taller than her. Varoj smiled and was about to offer they go find something to eat when he saw the girl from earlier walk towards them. Varoj smiled at the girl and excused himself to put the mound of socks away.

“Hi” the girl said. Hinami’s stomach did a little flip. ‘ _The girl with colored toes_ ’ she thought. ‘ _Say something!_ ’

“Um, hi.” Hinami was having an excited mini mental breakdown because she was talking _with a human_. The girl smiled a bit and continued.

“My name’s Riley, we ran into each other a couple hours ago.”

“I’m Hinami.” Hinami shook her head a little, “Wait, did you say ‘a couple hours’?” Riley confirmed she had said “a couple hours” to which Hinami panicked a little. ‘How am I supposed to do everything I can on two legs when it’s already noon?’ Hinami’s stomach rumbled a bit, reminding her she had yet to taste something other than seafood and she missed breakfast. Riley asked if she was okay, Hinami replied with an awkward smile, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just …new in town… and we’re only staying for the day before we head back home…” Hinami rambled a bit. Riley asked where ‘home’ was.

“Um… North?” Hinami stuttered a bit and tried a cardinal direction.

“Orlando?” Riley asked.

Hinami nodded, not sure what or where ‘Orlando’ was, but hoping it very far north. Riley seemed disappointed, “That’s almost three and half hours away.”

“...Yeah.” Hinami agreed, and then a thought occurred to her, “That’s why I wanted to try to get everything done here that I could. Like… biking, and beach volleyball, and going out to eat, but I do not even know where I can go around here to do those things.” The thought seemed to connect to Riley. She smiled.

“I can show you around.” Hinami relaxed and smiled with Riley.

“I would like that.”

Varoj came back empty-handed out of the racks and shelves of socks. “Uh, …Uncle… Varoj,” Varoj raised an eyebrow but thankfully played along, “can I spend the rest of the day with Riley?” Hinami raised her eyebrows, silently saying ‘please’. Varoj stared at her, deciding.

“Sure,” Hinami smiled, “and if you need anything I’ll be close by.” Hinami thanked him. Before Hinami and Riley walked out of the store Riley pointed back and asked if Hinami was going to buy some socks. Hinami’s smile faltered but came back, if a little forced. Hinami replied she did not really need them, and they walked out of the sock and shoe store to go do the activities Hinami had mentioned earlier.

 

By the time Riley and Hinami finished doing human activities the sun had set. Riley and Hinami had gotten to know each other more. Riley learned Hinami’s favorite ice cream flavor was strawberry, her favorite movie was the one they saw earlier in the day, and Hinami’s favorite sibling is her youngest brother, Bonon. Meanwhile Hinami learned Riley’s middle name is Margaret, her favorite snack food are M&M’s, and Riley’s favorite pastime is sailing.

Riley and Hinami walked along the beach in peacefully awkward silence. Hinami watched the lights blinking on in the tall building. Hinami broke the silence, “I’ll have to go soon.” She peered around until her eyes rested on Varoj, “My uncle’s waiting for me.”

“Before you go,” Riley said in a rushed tone, “um… I would like it if we hung out again. Sometime. I know you live three hours away, but maybe we can meet in the middle, or call each other.” Hinami smiled, “I would like that too, but I do not have …a phone.”

“Well, that’s okay, we can write letters.”

“I …don’t exactly have a …permanent address?” Riley frowned and asked how they would be able to stay in touch then. Hinami prepared for this question when she noticed how well she and Riley were getting along. “How about, I know this might be a little weird but, we will meet here on the full moon each month? Like I said, it sounds a little weird but-”

“No, it sounds cool. Like a secret code or something.” Hinami smiled. This was the best experience possible Hinami could imagine. “Oh, one more thing.” Riley pulled a small package out of her bag, “You seemed really excited about those socks in the store so, I figured why not?” Hinami looked at the package being handed to her with wide eyes. “You like them right? They are okay?” Riley barely finished the second question before Hinami was wrapping her arms around Riley.

“Thank you.” Riley returned the hug after registering it was, in fact, a hug. When they pulled apart, Hinami and Riley exchanged goodbyes and promised to meet up in a month.

Hinami walked over the sand, feeling the softness between her toes with every step, towards Varoj. She sat down in the dry sand next to Varoj.

“Thank you, for today” Hinami said slowly. Varoj looked at her and said with a light laugh, “All I did was bring you to a sock store.” Hinami laughed with him. They sat in silence for a few more minutes, enjoying the air, the breeze, the sounds.

“Are you ready?”

Hinami let out a content sigh. “Not really.”

A few more minutes pass. Hinami stands up, socks in hand, Varoj follows suit, and they walk into ocean to go home.


End file.
